InterviewUC&C4 Jan 2023 · 4 min read

'Businesses will be laser-focused on making collaboration easy' in 2023 - RingCentral

The further development of AI, a zero-trust approach to security, and the simplification of collaboration from anywhere are all things we will see in…

David Dungay

RingCentral on collaboration ease in 2023

The further development of AI, a zero-trust approach to security, and the simplification of collaboration from anywhere are all things we will see in 2023, according to Louise Newbury-Smith, Country Manager for UK and Ireland, RingCentral.

Newbury-Smith has outlined key trends that she believes we will see throughout the year in the unified communications and collaboration industry.

It follows from a report published by RingCentral towards the end of 2022 that highlights that "phones will still be a primary business communication tool" in 2023.

AI Will Make the Workplace Smarter

RingCentral predicts that AI will continue to develop and streamline workflows throughout 2023 as it makes the workplace smarter.

The company is making the prediction on the back of Gartner stating that conversational AI will reduce contact centre agent labour costs by $80bn and projects that one in 10 agent interactions will be automated by 2026.

Newbury-Smith commented: "AI is getting smarter and will proliferate in the year ahead. We're already seeing AI being utilised to help employees brainstorm in a hybrid environment, gather insights or reduce meeting background noise.

"We’ll see AI support improving workplace productivity by transcribing meetings for users.

"AI technology also serves to reduce meeting fatigue by providing meeting summaries for all participants — which also helps global organisations across multiple time zones, and those who are unable to attend."

Conversational AI has already reached the point where it can automate most of a contact centre customer interaction through voice and digital channels.

Simplified Collaboration

Newbury-Smith states that "businesses will be laser-focused on making collaboration easy" in 2023.

RingCentral says that accessibility and ensuring a consistent experience for hybrid meetings will continue to be a key trend within the UC space, as well as bridging the gap in participation equity between onsite and remote workers.

The company claims that UC providers will be relied on throughout 2023 to innovate and provide intelligent and connected experiences for the organisations that use their platforms.

Newbury-Smith believes that a key part of this future innovation will be to remove silos with add-ins and streamline app integrations on UCaaS platforms.

She claims that features such as whiteboards, collaborative notes, giving the best guest experience from web browsers, AI noise reduction, and more will make hybrid collaboration simpler for everyone.

Zero-trust Approach to Security

RingCentral highlights that a zero-trust approach to security will continue to be the "prevailing" focal point for UCaaS security during 2023.

Newbury-Smith said: "This is not only for internal controls or solution providers, as zero-trust now extends to customers, allowing them to decide how much data and access they should extend to their UCaaS vendor.

"This is especially true with E2EE technology that prevents any unauthorised third party (including the UCaaS solution) from accessing communication data.

"With E2EE technology, only an organisation’s IT administrators have access to the encryption keys, and the host provider simply distributes the encrypted keys to the endpoint devices.

"A zero-trust model that provides customers with flexibility when it comes to E2EE their organisation will be integral for business security."

One of the key security benefits of using a UCaaS provider includes minimising an IT department's risk surface by having communications in one platform.

Therefore it is easier for businesses to address vulnerabilities from a security perspective by benefiting from the latest security technologies accessible through UCaaS platforms.

Voice Will be a Major Communication Channel

According to RingCentral's research, over 95 percent of business decision-makers say that voice communication is essential for customer engagement and revenue generation.

As a result, organisations want flexibility from their phone services, in particular when it comes to phone features that are accessible through multiple devices.

RingCentral's research states that the ability to place and receive business calls is a feature that 33.8 percent of decision-makers are interested in, and 30.1 percent want to access business SMS messages from a personal computer.

"What makes telephony different is that it powers both internal and external communications, both scheduled and spontaneous conversations equally," Newbury-Smith added.

"For businesses, telephony will not only be more omnipresent in the workplace, but it will also be more contextual and assist us in more meaningful ways.

"Businesses should prioritise telephony systems that are composable to build bespoke new business offerings that adapt to evolving customer needs."

RingCentral states that 2023 will test businesses from an economic standpoint, and because of this, a telephony system that can evaluate people's conversations will be integral to maximising ROI.

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